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A corner store within walking distance is a wonderful thing, one that not all of Edmonton’s residential neighbourhoods can boast of. When I first moved to Castledowns there was no corner store, just an old gas station and an empty parking lot in a nearby strip mall. But now we have the Lebanese supermarket, Elsafadi Bros. (Yes, I know. We are extremely lucky.)

If you live in the neighbourhood and you’re Lebanese, you probably know the Elsafadis. Whenever I go to the store with my Lebanese girlfriend, we know we'll be there at least a few extra minutes as the owners ask after her mother and father, and send along their regards. (Her parents live just a few minutes away from our place.) If you've got a small child with you (like my girlfriend's niece) then they'll sneak some candy into her hands before you can get out the door.

I asked one of the owners, Waleed Elsafadi, what made them move to our part of town. They previously had one other (very small) store on the southern tip of Edmonton’s North End. Business was going well and they wanted to expand. Waleed's late brother was an architect and he bought the land that housed the strip mall because he saw a great opportunity to bring services in for the whole community. They brought a butcher’s and a bakery with them into the new store, and now the mall is also home to several medical clinics, a pharmacy, and a soon-to-be-built fancy Lebanese restaurant. The area has a whole new life.

It's not just Lebanese people that are shopping at Elsafadis. It has become a thriving market place for all residents in our neighbourhood. Waleed tells me they'll even order products (Italian or Polish for example) for other shoppers and if the products are successful they'll add them to their regular stock.

I haven’t made any special orders yet. I’m just happy to stop in to pick up some milk for the next morning, or some grape leaves and figs, chat with the Elsafadis, and introduce myself to the neighbours. After all, that’s what a corner store is for, right?

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My daily commute is like a small gear of mechanical time, of epicycles upon epicycles, where days turn to months and to years, and the seasons cycle through. The rhythms of time are constant, but the changes they bring are not.

The thaw has officially begun in Edmonton and I’m beginning to see more people outside in our neighbourhood starting their spring cleaning. Some may even start taking down their Christmas decorations from last year. In this part of the country you take your decorations down in April and put them back up in September.

A corner store within walking distance is a wonderful thing, one that not all of Edmonton’s residential neighbourhoods can boast of. When I first moved to Castledowns there was no corner store, just an old gas station and an empty parking lot in a nearby strip mall.

Mrs. Ash had been living in the neighborhood for the last 25 years, ever since the city expropriated her last home so they could build a road through it. She was known around the block for her beautiful gardens.

I do wonder what the other neighbours think of us. In terms of things that are changing in our neighbourhood, my girlfriend and I are it. They didn’t see many ‘For Sale’ signs very often before the one popped up on the house my girlfriend eventually bought. People all around us have lived in their houses for over twenty years.